The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday threatened to boycott a briefing on a proposed economic pact with China after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus dismissed the need for a task force to supervise cross-strait interaction.
The DPP says the government has ignored the legislature’s right to supervise significant China policies and on Monday suggested establishing a task force on the matter.
“The DPP opposes the briefing, because it is being held outside the legislative system and we will boycott it,” DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) officials are scheduled to visit Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (王金平) in the legislature today to report on the progress of the first round of official negotiations with Beijing on a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, and Wang invited the KMT and DPP caucuses to join the meeting. The speaker also told reporters that he supported establishing the task force, adding that he had made the suggestion to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Lee said the DPP caucus had rejected the invitation.
“We reject the MAC’s use of an unofficial occasion to talk about ECFA negotiations. Instead we request that the right to hear and oversee significant cross-strait policies be exercised in the legislature,” Lee said.
Because signing an ECFA concerns the nation’s sovereignty and is of significant interest to people, the DPP caucus asks that the legislature approve the pact’s content before it is negotiated with Beijing, and that the pact be passed by a national referendum, he said.
Taiwan and China finished the first round of official negotiations on the pact in Beijing last week.
The DPP has accused Ma and his government of operating in a way that denies the legislature’s right to supervise cross-strait policies and negotiations.
The government has enacted a number of economic treaties inked by Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) without sending them to the legislature for approval.
This shows that the government is arrogant and authoritarian, the DPP said.
Lee’s comments came after the KMT caucus said the legislature did not need to establish a task force.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) told reporters that the task force was not needed because the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee also has the authority to oversee cross-strait affairs.
He urged the DPP caucus to join the briefing.
“Don’t give up the opportunity to listen to the briefing — we can also voice our opinions during the briefing and carry out our legislative responsibility,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said the task force would be “redundant.”
“What is crucial is whether legislators are attentive enough to the ECFA issue, rather than establishing a separate task force,” Wu said.
Besides, he said, when the DPP was the ruling party during the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) era, it opposed a proposal by the then opposition KMT caucus to set up a legislative task force on cross-strait affairs and labeled it “unconstitutional.”
The MAC yesterday expressed regret over the DPP’s planned boycott.
An MAC official who wished to remain anonymous said the DPP was worried there would be no record of today’s briefing because it would be delivered behind closed doors, but the DPP would gain a better understanding if it came to the meeting. The official said the arrangement was made per the DPP’s request to make the negotiation process transparent.
Between next month and May, the official said MAC planned to report to the legislature on the pact once a month, possibly to the joint hearing of legislative committees.
The council and the SEF as well as other government agencies also planned to deliver special reports to the legislature before and after the fifth round of cross-strait talks between Chiang and Chen Yunlin.
Aside from the legislature, the official said other government agencies would launch an intensive promotion campaign targeting radio stations and campuses with pamphlets, workshops and seminars.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang, Ko Shu-ling and CNA
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